Reviews

I went to Kwong Chow last Tuesday as I was craving some greasy Chinese food. Sometimes I just like to eat cheap greasy Chinese food and Kwong Chow's is the place to go if that's what you're craving. The place was full less one table for us and a full restaurant is usually a good sign.

There are two menus and both are very extensive. One menu is congee, noodles, and rice and the other menu is everything else. Most of the entrees come in two sizes so you can order lots of little dishes if you want.

We had a crispy squab, pan fried sea bass fillets, shrimp dumpling and noodle soup, gai lan with oyster sauce, and spare ribs in black bean sauce on chow mein. I wanted to order so much more so it took us awhile to narrow down our selections.

The squab was very tasty as squab tends to be. I particularly like the salt squab comes with. The fish was a little too salty (maybe because of the salt from the squab) and one generally expects Chinese food to be salty so the fish was particularly salty. Everything else was great. We only had some chow mein as left overs probably because we ordered small dishes. I'm looking forward to my next visit as there are so many dishes to try. Lots of tables had hot pot dishes so I'll be sure to try one of those.

The restaurant was a bit dirty, but that's to be expected at this kind of restaurant. The service was pretty standard for this kind of Chinese restaurant.

I like that the restaurant is open late (until 2 am) as few restaurants in Vancouver are open late.

The food is great and the beverages too. the food took a little long and sometimes you have to wait for spots during busy hours. The chairs and tables are nice and the area is very comfortable and clean. The fishtank is pretty cool too.

Whenever I feel like having some decent seafood at a great price, this is where I go. Even with lobsters, you have the option of a set price for each instead of by weight. They have better seafood selection than a lot of the so called seafood restaurants and definitely better price, too. When it comes to meat, my first choice is the lamb hot pot. The lamb is so tender. Unfortunately, it not always available. A couple of times, I was told that it's not in season. If you go for dinner, be sure to check their specials. I hope it's still on. For every $20 order, you can order one of the 4 or 5 special dishes at a deep discount. I took advantage of that last time there and ordered 6 dishes: oyster, squid/cuttle fish combo, shrimp, clam, fish & ostrich. The total before tips including rice & tax was $62. Beat that!

We were there for dinner. They not only forgot our order but the service was poor. I did not tip them much and told them that we waited a long time for our food, The gate to the parkade was locked; so I went back to the restaurant and told them that we couldn't get access to the parkade. The waitress was very rude and told me to 'get out of her way' in a very rude manner; so she could walk pass me. I have never encountered such rudeness. She must be upset that I did not tip them well and I shouldn't have tipped them at all. Still very upset with her rude attitude.

My companion and I were in the mood for Chinese food and popped in Kwong Chow for a quick bite in late November.

We noticed the 2010? Critic’s Choice (Chinese Restaurant) Award for HK style beef congee hanging on the wall so naturally we ordered it with a dish of noodles. The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy so it’s hard to explain why we were served burnt congee. You could smell it was burned before it even touched the table. For a signature dish, it was disappointing that that no care was taken to ensure quality. We politely mentioned it but our server didn’t say a word. She took our bowls and dumped everything into the congee serving bowl. Maybe she was having a bad night or couldn’t speak English but it looked like she was in charge and should have handled it better.

For the second dish, we ordered rice vermicelli with pork and shrimp. Can’t recall because there was hardly any meat – just a big, wet sloppy dish of noodles and bits of sui choy? The dish was $11.00 and looked so unappetizing. If you’re looking for good bowl of congee or noodles, head a few blocks down north on Main & Broadway and hang a left.

In times like these where (new) restaurants come and go, it’s hard to imagine that this place is still in business. They must have established a loyal clientele who either enjoy the convenience or value but I won’t be coming back any time soon.

If you see everyone with their jackets on, you better keep your's on. The A/C is on high.
I usually go after midnight. The wonton is excellent. I also like their Beef Brisket Hotpot. I tried some dishes the waitress suggested.The Spicy Eggplant with pork was bursting with flavor. The other dish suggested was the Spicy Chicken on Deep Fried Spinach. Also flavorful and interesting. I call it Spicy chicken with plastic spinach.
I would prefer a tea kettle at the table,so I would not have to flag the waitress doen for refills. They also must get rid of the dish cart with the square wheels. It is super noisey with the dishes and cutlery bouncing around.
This is one of the last late night "cheap eats" chinese places in Vancouver.